Bullets and Tears
by Flanders
Summary: It's been a decade since the Humanoid Typhoon was spotted. Now Planet Gunsmoke is on the verge of dying from the biggest drought in its history, crime is on the rise and the world is falling into chaos. It was then that the people of planet Gunsmoke understood just how bad they needed Vash the Stampede. *This story focuses on Vash, Wolfwood and a mysterious character named Blue.
1. Chapter 1

Bullets and Tears: An Original Story

Based off of the Anime/Manga Trigun

Chapter 1

The past two months had been hot; actually it was the hottest temperature on Planet Gunsmoke that had ever been recorded. The water sources were drying up, what little crops the people had were suffering and tensions were rising. With that came more crime; people were stealing, fighting and even murdering one another over the smallest resources. It had been 10 years since the Humanoid Typhoon had been seen and people were starting to believe they may have placed the wrong image on that man. They realized that yes he indeed carried trouble with him, yes he wrecked and destroyed many towns and cities, who could ever forget July, but in the end he had stopped the Gung-Ho Guns and put an end to Knives, his brother who wanted to wipe the planet clean of the human race. He saved them all, he became a true hero and saved the lives of the people who hated and feared him. It was then that they understood they desperately needed Vash the Stampede back.

He tenderly pushed on the door of the saloon, lowering his head as he walked in feeling very nervous someone would immediately recognize him. As he walked over to the bar he sat down with a sigh of relief of not being noticed the barman walked over, clapped his hands together and asked in a very loud and booming baritone voice "What can I get for you Vash?!" The man sitting at the bar quickly jerked around in his seat, gulped down air and whimpered "How do you?" the barman leaned over with a wide smile and said "It has been a decade, but I'll never forget the face of the 60,000,000,000$$ man!" A bead of sweat trickled down Vash's forehead as he lent in close to the barman "Just keep it quiet ok? I don't want to cause any problems." "Sorry buddy," the barman replied "I'll keep it down, so what'll it be? Scotch, Whiskey, Rum?" "Thanks but I will just have a nice big glass of water! Please?" He smiled as wide as he could, his pearly white teeth glinting in the light. "Ha!" The barman began to laugh hysterically. Vash quickly lost his smile and turned his head just enough to see all the inhabitants glaring at the two of them. As he glanced back over he noticed the barman had calmed down but had almost a look of concern on his face "Son, Gunsmoke is experiencing one of the worst droughts ever. You'll be lucky to find anyone willing to give you water and I apologize but I'm not one of them." Vash sighed "Alright, Whiskey it is…"

He noticed the tall blonde man out of the corner of his eye timidly walk into the bar. His heart leapt into his stomach, he hadn't seen him in ages and as much as he wanted to jump up and hug him as much as his arms would allow he knew he couldn't reveal himself to soon "It might not be a good idea, it could blow his cover" he thought, for surely he would be in hiding after all that had happened to him. So he continued to watch him through the corner of his eye while playing poker. He paid more attention to Vash than he did his game resulting in the loss of all the valuables he had on him, and the few things he had kept in his pocket when the barman foolishly yelled out his friends name and caught him off guard. Every muscle in his body tensed up, preparing for a fight but nothing came of it and he sighed in relief as he turned back round to his game and noticed that the players had left with everything. "Shit!" He exclaimed "Oh well, I'll get them back next time." He huffed as he reached into his pocket for a cigarette and found nothing, all he could force out was a very long and drawn out sigh as he pushed his seat back and began to stand up "Guess it's time to make myself known." He quietly thought out loud as he watched Vash finish off his last drink. He made his way over to the bar and stood to the right of Vash and whispered "It's been a long time… Needle Noggin."


	2. Chapter 2

Bullets and Tears: An Original Story

Based off of the Anime/Manga Trigun

Chapter 2

His heart leapt into his throat, "There's no way he's alive, when I found him he had no heartbeat, he was cold. He was dead." Vash's mind went numb while he tried to determine if he had just had too much to drink and was just hearing things. "Well, aren't you going to offer me a seat?" Wolfwood demanded. "How are you even…" It was all Vash could murmur, his thoughts circled in his brain, the alcohol intensified it, he felt sick. "An angel," Wolfwood replied as he situated himself onto the barstool next to Vash "that's all I can say. When you found me I wasn't dead, I was very close," he took a long drag from his cigarette, "hanging on by the thinnest string. Seconds after you left I felt arms wrap around me, I blacked out and the next thing I remember was this voice. For a moment I actually thought I had died and an angel was singing to me, welcoming me to my new life but she was real, very real." Wolfwood looked over to his old friend expecting to peer into the eyes of a damaged soul, "after all that he went through how could anyone come back alright?" he pondered. What he saw however made his heart sink into the pit of his stomach. Vash wore a large grin and with tears flowing from his eyes he quickly grabbed Wolfwood and held onto him as tight as he could. Vash couldn't bear the thought of losing his dear friend ever again. "I'm just so happy you're ok Nicholas!" Wolfwood struggled desperately to free himself from Vash's iron grip "Vash," he squeaked "I'm not going to be ok if you DON'T LET ME GO!" Vash quickly loosened his grip and smiled at Wolfwood as a thought popped into his head "Hey, do the girls know?!" Wolfwood smiled, he knew Vash could never forget their precious friends from the Bernardelli Insurance Company. "They do Vash." "How are they?" Vash asked instantly. "They're doing great, Meryl has been married for four years now and is expecting her first child and Milly, she's newly engaged and extremely busy planning for her wedding." Vash's heart sank a little at the news, he was very happy for them, ecstatic even, but felt sad that he had missed out on so much of their lives. He also felt the old feelings he had begun to develop when Meryl was around and was saddened by the thought of never telling her. "That's wonderful Nicholas!" Vash exclaimed gulping down the tight lump forming in his throat "Now I don't know about you but I'm starving!" He jumped up quickly and put on his brave goofy smile. "I could eat." Wolfwood replied. "Great! Now I haven't had a donut in ages! Do you know a good place around here?!" Vash asked excitedly slapping Wolfwood on the back. "Heh, he's definitely back." Wolfwood murmured to himself. He smiled, slid his sunglasses on and led Vash out of the saloon.

Later that day after getting their fill of donuts and catching up on what each other had missed out on during those many years apart they slowly drifted around the town and somehow found their way back into another saloon a few miles down the road from where they were earlier. As the pair settled down for a few more rounds to celebrate the accomplishments they made ten years ago the saloon doors shot open and a hooded figure stepped inside, dressed from head to toe in browns to blend in with the environment, wearing a large wrap over its body with a long hood that fell down to cloak the entire face only showing the clavicle, heavy duty pants and a pair of steel toe boots that clunked loudly with every step it took. The mystery figure advanced over to the bar followed by the eyes of every person in the room. The figure approached the bar and stood there silently until the barman acknowledged its presence. "What can I do for you?" The barman asked hesitantly, glancing over at the two who had just sat down hoping that if anything bad happened they would be able to take care of it. The figure stood there for a moment before answering in a quiet raspy tone "I'm looking for this man." A gloved hand shot out from underneath the cloak clutching an old worn out paper with a man's face printed on the front. While the mysterious figures arm was extended Vash and Wolfwood got a good look at a long and vicious blade positioned underneath the cloak. "No… Sir?... I have not seen this man," the barman gulped as a bead of sweat ran down his forehead "but," he thought quickly hoping this character would spare him for any information "there is a man that lives in town, he's really good at tracking people. He may be able to help you find this man." "Perfect, can you direct me to the whereabouts of this man?" The barman let out a sigh of relief and gave the information to the shady being. After the figure left the bar Vash turned to Wolfwood with a worried look in his eyes. "Nicholas, did you see that blade!" "Yes I did, and that definitely was not a regular blade either, it had the emblem of the Tribe of Assassins on the hilt. That was no human being Vash that was a highly trained killing machine." "Nicholas," Vash said in that tone "Oh no Vash…" Wolfwood raised his hand to his glabella and applied pressure preparing for what was next. "That person is obviously looking for that man to kill him. We can't…" but Wolfwood cut him off quickly slamming his fist into the bar "Vash, we can, we can walk away and not think about saving every… Where are you going?!" He yelled as the stubborn spikey haired man traipsed off without him.


	3. Chapter 3

Bullets and Tears: An Original Story

Based off of the Anime/Manga Trigun

Chapter 3

Vash trailed behind the shadowed stranger at a distance so not to be seen or heard as Wolfwood followed behind Vash clearly at his wits end, not ready for this side of Vash just yet. The stranger led them to a more remote corner of the town, it was mainly occupied with people's homes with one or two shops scattered along the way. One of those shops was a very old one, there was some old writing on the front of the building; in faded gold letters it read Berry Cahill: The Locator, what was once blue paint on the entire shop was now peeling off the wood and the roof was so sun bleached Vash and Wolfwood were sure it no longer resembled the quaint little shop it once was many years ago. The building itself gave air that it was shut down however the small rusty metal sign that hung from the door was inscribed with the word OPEN. Vash and Wolfwood watched the shadowed figure enter the little shop before quickly jolting over to the cracked window on the right side of the building. At first all they could hear was the shuffling of feet until a feeble voice broke the silence. "How can I help you?" They could tell by his tone that he was shocked at seeing such a bulking mysterious figure inside his store. "I'm sorry to bother you but I'm looking for this man," they heard the break in the dark voice and some papers rustling "I've been asking around town but no one has seen him, I was told to come by and see you by the nice young lad down at the saloon." "I see," the old man began "well I'm sorry to inform you but I have never seen this man before however, judging by that giant blade you have hidden underneath your coat I would say this man has probably done something pretty terrible. Am I correct?" "You could say so…" The mystery man grumbled he was not pleased at all with the new turn of events. "The reason I say this is a group of thugs, and that is putting it nicely, came into town a few nights ago and kicked up a real fuss, 'bout tore up the saloons and don't get me started on how they treated all of us folk. They said they were a part of the newly developed Tiger's Eye League, said they would be the first ones to bring that ol' Vash the Stampede out of hiding by terrorizing the world." At the mention of his name Vash shot a concerned look towards Wolfwood and his brain began to whirl with this new information until the small old voice broke his concentration. "So the reason I'm telling you all of this is if the man you're looking for is getting into all sorts of trouble there's bound to be a connection since Gunsmoke hasn't had this type of evil in ten years." Seconds flew by without a break in the silence until the dark voice replied "Where can I find these men?" "Well, I did overhear one of the members say that the base they stayed at wasn't too far from here, in the City Ash." "Thank you sir, I appreciate your help. This is for your troubles; you can buy water for you and your family for a month with this." As Vash and Wolfwood listened to the old man give his thanks to the kind stranger they shot each other a look of interest, who was this newly formed Tiger's Eye League, who was behind it and what was this mystery figure really up to? They knew one thing was certain; they had to follow the shadow now to find the answers to all three questions, but before all that they began to feel their stomachs complaining with hunger and the fuzziness of sleep forming in their heads. They decided to grab a bite to eat and took shelter in the hostel just a block away.

"Vash wake up! We need to get a move on if we intend on catching back up with that mystery man today!" Wolfwood shook Vash repeatedly until he ended up knocking him right out of bed. With a groan Vash lifted his head and shot a nasty glare at his friend "Fine!" he exclaimed mid yawn as he pulled himself off of the floor and began to get dressed. As the two made their way out the front door they were immediately stopped by the commotion coming from down the street; the townspeople were lined up around the familiar faded blue building and they were tilting their heads and standing on their toes as if to get a glance at something on the ground in front of the shop. As the pair approached closer and slipped into the crowd they noticed the front of the shop was marked off by rope and the sheriff and his men were standing around with their heads down examining something. Upon further poking and prying the two managed to squeeze their way past the troupe of people and made their way to the front to find a frightening scene, Berry Cahill was lying on the ground, pale as the sheet that covered him from neck to toe. As they took in the scene of the crime Vash noticed a few key things; from what he could see there were marks in various places on the inside of the shop similar to blade marks, his mind instantly jumped to the mystery figure and its large blade. "Coming through; coming through!" A short portly man shouted, he was carrying a medical bag in one hand and with his free one he had it raised in front of him to act as a guard as he pushed his way through the large crowd. The portly man sat his bag down and shook hands with the Sheriff and asked about what they knew so far "Not much at all Josef." The Sheriff replied leading the coroner to the deceased. Josef looked down at the man and let out a sigh as he removed his small frame glasses and wiped the sweat from his eyes. "I don't mind my job," Josef began looking over at the sheriff "but it never gets easier, especially when it's a friend of mine." "I know Josef, Berry was dear to all of us." The Sheriff replied. Josef let out another sigh as he slid his gloves on and leaned over to examine Berry. "His time of death was approximately 1:00 A.M. this morning." Josef pulled the sheet down to Barry's waist revealing two massive wounds, one clean cut through his neck and a jagged wound in the abdomen. "He has two major lacerations; one on the jugular one across the belly it stretches from the colon across to the small intestine; this laceration is jagged it was meant to cause as much pain and suffering as possible as he slowly bled out, the laceration in the neck was to finish him off completely." Josef looked up at the Sheriff "Officially he died from bleeding out. He didn't stand a chance, this was brutal, and whoever did this to him knew what they were doing." Josef hesitated as he looked over everything "Sheriff, the killer you're looking for is a highly trained Assassin." Vash's stomach dropped and he thought he was going to lose it until Wolfwood gently placed his hand on his back. "Come on Vash, I think we've seen enough." Wolfwood spoke gently as he pulled his friend over away from the large crowd. Vash looked up at Wolfwood with tears falling from his eyes "I just don't understand Nicholas," he whimpered "that old man helped that guy, he didn't do anything to…" but Vash stopped himself mid-sentence, he remembered the conversation between the two, he remembered the old man spotting the blade. "Nicholas! The old man spotted the blade! Maybe that guy couldn't risk leaving him alive, he must be worried someone is going to inform the person he's looking for that a highly trained assassin is coming for him. We've got to do something Nicholas; we've got to stop him!" "Needle Noggin, this may be the first and only time you ever hear me say this but I agree, let's go now!"

As they left behind a scene of horror they looked onward towards the City Ash, it held their answers and their killer. They were going to make that mysterious assassin pay for what he did to that innocent old man and they were going to have their answers.


End file.
